The rate of recurrence for endometriosis is high. This is partially due to difficulties in diagnosing and removing the implanted endometrial tissue.
A first step in localized treatments is the identification of endometrial lesions on the walls of the peritoneal cavity. Once the lesions have been located, these areas may be treated for removal thereof. For example, heat, electricity, cold, or radiation may be directed to each of the lesions to necrose the tissue. Alternatively, the tissue may be excised or removed by another mechanism. The effectiveness of these methods depends generally on the accuracy of the localization of the lesions and the accuracy with which the therapeutic treatment is provided to those locations.
Blue light (e.g., of approximately 440 nm in wavelength, but that may range from 400 to 500 nm) has been shown to be superior to white light in identifying endometriosis lesions. Current treatments generally involve the insertion of a laparoscope to an operative space (e.g., via a first trocar) and the insertion into the operative space of a second trocar for the introduction of diagnostic and therapeutic tools. To supplement the white light source of the vision system of the laparoscope, a source of diagnostic light (e.g., blue light) is inserted into the operative space via the second trocar to identify target tissue (e.g., lesions) and to physically mark the locations of this target tissue. The source of diagnostic light is then removed from the second trocar and a source of ablation energy (e.g., radio frequency energy, laser energy) is introduced through the second trocar into the operative space. Energy from the energy source is then directed to the positions earlier noted for target tissue. It is difficult to apply the treatments to the exact locations of the lesions using this method as the bleeding associated with the current treatments (e.g., laser or RF ablation) interferes with the observation of the target locations. In addition, the time required for these treatments is increased as the diagnostic light source is withdrawn and the energy source is inserted.